Dental regulating device



(No Model.)

T. S. HOLMES.

' DENTAL RBGULATING DEVICE;

No. 360,695. Patented Apr. 5', 1887.

WITNESSES ATTORNEYS. 4

N. PETERS. Pholo-Lilhognpher. WalMnglnrL I10,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE S. HOLMES, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

DENTAL REGULATING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 360,695, dated April 5, 1887.

Application filed January 10, 1887. Serial No. 223,907. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THEODORE S. HOLMES,

ot Brooklyn, in the county ofKings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Dental Regulating Appliances, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to devices for regulating natural teeth--thatis, for straightening teeth which are out of line, projecting outward or inward, as the case may be. These devices have usually consisted of ajack-screw applied to push or pull on the tooth which is outof line and adjusted from time to time, said jack-screw usually resting against an opposite tooth and bearing with a dead pressure upon the tooth or teeth direct, which is liable to abrade and injure the teeth, or resting against a temporary plate, and when forcing a tooth outward bearing against said tooth direct. To pull on the tooth, a silk or other thread attached to the jack is passed round the tooth.

My invention, which is mainly designed for the upper teeth, consists in a spring-regulating appliance having a screw adjustment for varying the tension of the spring when required, whereby a constant and steady pressure or pull on the tooth or teeth is kept up; and the invention further consists in the combination, with such an appliance, of a temporary plate applied to the palate or roof of themouth, constructed to take the bearing-pressure of said appliance against it, instead of against the tooth direct, all substantially as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents an under view of an upper row of teeth with a temporary plate applied to the palate and the spring-regulating device under one form of construction in position for forcing outward a single tooth. Fig. 2 is a sectional inverted view of the same upon the line a; m of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the spring-regulating appliance as applied to force outward two teeth on opposite sides of the mouth. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal view, upon a larger scale, of

the spring-regulating appliance constructed as shown in the hereinbefore-named figures; and Fig.5 is a further longitudinal view thereof in partial section, as indicated upon the line 3 y in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is an under view of an upper row of teeth and palate-plate, with the spring-regulating device applied to pull upon a tooth for the purpose of drawing it inward. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal view, upon a larger scale, of the spring-regulatiug appliance constructed as in Fig. 6, and with the thread attached which pulls upon the tooth; and Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section of such appliance upon the line 2 z in Fig. 7.

The main orbody portion of the spring-regulating appliance A is constructed in two separate lengths or sections, the one in the form of a pin, 1), and the other in the form of a socket, c, in which the pin is free to slide or work, for the purpose of longitudinal adjustment and to vary the tension of the spring 3, which controls the appliance, subject to regulation by a screw, said appliance being provided with an acting jaw, e, at one or both of its ends, according to the work to be done.

Prior to applying the regulating device I make a vulcanite plate, B, from a cast of the crown or palate of the mouth, shaped on its margin to conform to the inner configuration of the upper row of teeth, (Z (Z, of the month. When the regulating appliance A is designed to push upon a single tooth, as in Figs. 1 and 2, or upon two opposite side teeth, as in Fig. 3, the plate 13, which is held by suction on the roof of the mouth, is fashioned, as at f, to form a bearingsurface for the acting jaw or jaws e of the appliance A against the tooth or teeth to be forced outward, whereby direct contact of said regulating appliance and all injury to the tooth or teeth arising therefrom is avoided. Said plate, too, when only one tooth requires to be regulated at a time, is fashioned with a surface projection, g, for the inner end of the regulating appliance A to rest against or engage with, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 6.

In Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the drawings the pin-section b of the appliance A has an acting jaw, e, on its outer end, and the socketsection 0 another acting jaw, e, on its outer end. This socket-section has a screw-thread,

h, on it, upon which is fitted a nut, i, between which and the jaw e on the pin-section b a spring, 8, is arranged, having an expanding action, so as to exert a force which will tend to separate the two jaws c e, and thus throw a constant and steady strain upon the tooth or teeth to be forced outward without that repeated adjustment of the appliance which is necessary in a mere jacloscrew, the nut i here only being adjusted when it is requisite to vary the tension of the spring. The holes k in thejaws e e are for the purpose of passing a thread through to anchor the appliance to the tooth or teeth and so prevent it from being accidentally swallowed, of which, however, there will be but little risk.

The plate B has saw cuts or slits a a made in or partly across it on opposite sides of the tooth or teeth being acted upon, whereby in. creased flexibility will be given to the lip portionf, that intervenes between the acting jaw orjaws e of the appliance A and the tooth or teeth being regulated.

In Figs. 6, 7, and 8 of the drawings the pinsection 6 only is represented as provided with an actingjaw, e, and the socket-section 0 with a stationary jaw or foot, 0, which, however, might be an acting jaw when the appliance is required to pull upon two opposite teeth at the same time. The pin of the pin-section b has the screw-thread h upon it, instead of on the socket-section, and is fitted to freely turn in its attached jaw e, and is furthermore provided with a head, Z, by which to turn it. The screw-thread h works through a nut or box, t", at the inner end of the socket-section c, and which does not turn, but is connected with the outer end of said section by the controllingspring 8, that is made to exert a contracting tendency on the pin-section b and itsjaw c, so that upon a loop of silk or other thread, m, being attached to said jaw and placed over or round the tooth to be drawn inward the spring a will exert a constant and steady tendency in that direction, the pin of the pin-section I) only being turned by its head Zwhenever it is necessary to adjust the tension of the spring, just as the nut 43 in the previous figures of the draw ings was turned to adjust or set the tension of the spring in the regulating appliance adapted to pushinginstead of pulling. These changes and the substitution of a contracting for an expanding spring are necessary when adapting the appliance to a pulling action; but the principle of operation is the same and the means used are substantially similar.

To adjust the tension of the spring 8 in either case, a wrench or other tool may be applied to the nut 'i or head Z of the regulating appliance.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In dental regulating appliances, the within-described tooth-regulating device A, composed of an independent pin-section, an independent socket-section, longitudinally adjustable one with and over the other, and an adjustable spring adapted to give a longitudinal elastic action to said sections and to vary the distance of their outer ends apart, substantially as specified.

2. The longitudinally -adjustable pin and socket sections 1) c, havingjaws on their opposite ends and provided with a screw-thread and nut or box fitting said thread, in combination with a tension-regulating spring, 8, between the nut or box and one of said jaws, essentially as shown an d described, and for the purposes herein set forth.

3. The combination of the longitudinallyadjustable spring tension dental regulating appliance A and the plate B, adapted to hold or carry said appliance and constructed with a projectinglip or marginal portion, f, adapted to form a bearingfor said appliance between its acting end or ends and the tooth or teeth being regulated, substantially as specified.

4. The combination of the longitudinallyadjustablc springtension tooth-regulating appliance A and the plate B, adapted to hold or carry said appliance and constructed with a bent lip or marginal portion,f, and saw cuts or slits a to, essentially as shown and described,

and for the purposes herein set forth.

THEODORE S. HOLMES.

XVitnesses:

. A. GREGORY,

J. F. ACKER, Jr. 

